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Saudi Operatives Who Killed Khashoggi Received Paramilitary Training in U.S.

nytimes.com

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Re: Saudi Operatives Who Killed Khashoggi Received Paramilitary Training in U.S.

#111

Post by [deleted] »

gherkinnn wrote: post #66
LatteLazy wrote: post #42

There seems to be a "perpetual surprise" around Saudi Arabia. Its a shitty regime, we support, train, arm and cover for their shitty behaviour. That's how it is. We're 2nd-order responsible for crushing any move towards democracy, for radicalising the population, for the horrific treatment for women and lgbt+, for their war against Yeman, all of it. None of this should be "news" any more than its news that the navy h…

It boggles the mind. But who cares if the Gulf states engage in all sorts of nastiness. SA is the apparent bastion against terror, Dubai is the place to visit and Qatar will host the 2022 Football World Cup.

[deleted]

Re: Saudi Operatives Who Killed Khashoggi Received Paramilitary Training in U.S.

#112

Post by ashtonkem »

smcl wrote: post #69
seibelj wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One theory is “petro dollars” - Saudi Arabia mandates all of their oil is purchased in dollars, thus ensuring global demand for dollars as every country needs oil. In return, the US has their back unconditionally. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrodollar_recycling#Petrod...

I’m sure it’s been asked and answered before but is there a realistic alternative to USD for such transactions? I imagine Euros would be the next-best bet, being the second-most traded currency. Edit: While I don’t agree with the person below who replied saying crypto could fill this gap, I don’t think they should be downvoted to the point where we can’t reply. I even hit the “vouch” button but it’s still not possibl…

The serious proposal is that the petrodollar be replaced with a basket of currencies, rather than one single foreign currency.

Re: Saudi Operatives Who Killed Khashoggi Received Paramilitary Training in U.S.

#113

Post by ashtonkem »

seibelj wrote: post #5
pope_meat wrote: post #2

Why is keeping nice with the Saudi family so important? Why does the US government bend over backwards to cover up for them?

One theory is “petro dollars” - Saudi Arabia mandates all of their oil is purchased in dollars, thus ensuring global demand for dollars as every country needs oil. In return, the US has their back unconditionally. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrodollar_recycling#Petrod...

There are some who believe that this is the real reason why we invaded Iraq; Saddam kept trying to sell oil for Euros instead of dollars.

Re: Saudi Operatives Who Killed Khashoggi Received Paramilitary Training in U.S.

#114

Post by dwater »

ashtonkem wrote: post #108
rjzzleep wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the teachers at a major Israeli military university claims that Israel is intentionally acting like a mad dog i.e. willing to take down the rest of the world with them should they go down, and that most European capitols are a target for their airforce. Whether that's rhetoric or reality, I don't think anyone intends to find out.[0] [0] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/sep/21/israelandthepa... https://en…

I genuinely doubt the Israeli Airforce could take on the rest of Europe. There are a lot of warplanes patrolling the Mediterranean Sea.

The point of the "mad dog" approach is not to win, but to let others know you will take them down with you, with the idea being that they will do what you want out of fear.

Re: Saudi Operatives Who Killed Khashoggi Received Paramilitary Training in U.S.

#115

Post by weimerica »

drewcoo wrote: post #10
SkyMarshal wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it makes you feel any better, many US citizens hate it too. It's stupid both to privatize the military, and to provide military training to repressive authoritarian regimes. America and our democratic allies spent half a century fighting totalitarianism, only to turn around and treat the post-Cold War "peace dividend" as carte-blance to sell out everything we had just finished fighting for. Now authoritarianism is…

> spent half a century fighting totalitarianism By destabilizing and ousting democratically elected leaders around the world and replacing them with our puppets? Or do you mean fighting those puppets when they became inconvenient? I suspect what happened is not the history you think it is.

[dead]

Re: Saudi Operatives Who Killed Khashoggi Received Paramilitary Training in U.S.

#116

Post by baybal2 »

ridiculous_lol wrote: post #97
baybal2 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why is keeping nice with the Saudi family so important? Why does the US government bend over backwards to cover up for them? Because they spawn outfits who ram airplanes into skyscrapers. I see no logic in this, but some "expert geopolitical strategists" do. Same with Israel, sinks USS Liberty, and then people on the hill go orgasmic, because "higher meaning" — whatever that means. A simpler explanation which seems…

> Same with Israel, sinks USS Liberty, and then people on the hill go orgasmic, because "higher meaning" — whatever that means. I don't think it's fair to compare Israel with Saudi. The former is a functioning democracy and is ranks significantly better that its neighbors when it comes to Civil liberties.

It's not a functioning democracy, half of its population has no voting rights.

And it's always been antagonistic with US, despite making pretty face.

And, yes, they are in bed with the Saudis, now quite openly.

Re: Saudi Operatives Who Killed Khashoggi Received Paramilitary Training in U.S.

#117

Post by selimthegrim »

swarnie_ wrote: post #76
pvaldes wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Does America's ex-military personnel really teach people to dismember bodies? Would be that more evil than throwing tied men and women alive to the sea from helicopters so they drown, while kidnapping their babies at the same time? I don't think so.

Its a testament to the US military that i can't tell who you're referring to here.

Argentina, not Chile IIRC

Re: Saudi Operatives Who Killed Khashoggi Received Paramilitary Training in U.S.

#118

Post by mywittyname »

geoduck14 wrote: post #102
rjzzleep wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the teachers at a major Israeli military university claims that Israel is intentionally acting like a mad dog i.e. willing to take down the rest of the world with them should they go down, and that most European capitols are a target for their airforce. Whether that's rhetoric or reality, I don't think anyone intends to find out.[0] [0] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/sep/21/israelandthepa... https://en…

People said that about Trump. I don't think that strategy paid off for him

He was not threatening enough, nor possess the mental capabilities to pull off that strategy. That strategy only works if you display the willingness to act, and the cleverness to act in such a way that demonstrates you know exactly where your opponent is weakest.

He was willing to act, his actions just always missed their mark.

Re: Saudi Operatives Who Killed Khashoggi Received Paramilitary Training in U.S.

#119

Post by Paradigma11 »

nzmsv wrote: post #105
reducesuffering wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US supporting democracy (or atleast classical liberal enlightenment values that would eventually lead to a functioning democracy) in Vietnam, Iraq, Korea, Syria, Afghanistan, and more has by far been a net negative economic interest. We've paid dearly while Europe mostly enjoyed social welfare benefits.

Afghanistan? Really? You may want to look up who installed the Taliban in the first place.

The russians by indiscriminately killing 1.5 million ppl so that only the hard core extremists survived?

Re: Saudi Operatives Who Killed Khashoggi Received Paramilitary Training in U.S.

#120

Post by knownjorbist »

akudha wrote: post #89
knownjorbist wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your picture may be as narrow-minded as the person you're replying to, but in the other direction. The US also uses its economic clout to push for social, political and economic reforms in other countries as well.

Yes, the U.S govt does good things abroad. They also do lots of bad stuff. We can criticize them for the bad things they do and appreciate them for their good deeds, at the same time .

Agreed! In fact, that's basically what I said.
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